An Española Valley High School football player claimed he was sexually assaulted, but law enforcement was not notified until months after the initial complaint, a new report from Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Robert Vigil states.
Vigil wrote that he first heard about the incident February 5, when a victim asked Assistant Principal Victoria Gonzales why she addressed concerns about Instagram with the student body, but never addressed his complaint.
Gonzales told Vigil the student had complained to football coaching staff and to former principal Ruben Archuleta, but that she was unsure how Archuleta had addressed the victim’s concerns.
During his investigation, Vigil found that the victim had reported to coaching staff he was inappropriately touched by a teammate and sexually harassed. The name of the suspect has not been released as he has not been formally charged.
The first incident occurred during a team trip to the mineral springs in Ojo Caliente in August 2018, the victim told Vigil.
“I started to swim away from the group,” the victim told Vigil. “The group grabbed my (genitals).”
The victim told Vigil he yelled out during the incident and Coach Delfin Quintana told him to be quiet.
The second incident allegedly occurred several weeks later, during practice. In that instance, someone pulled the victim’s shorts down, exposing him.
“He ran to the locker room holding up his shorts and came across Coach Quintana,” Vigil wrote. “He informed Coach Quintana, and Coach Quintana laughed and walked away.”
The third incident, which occurred in September 2018, also took place during practice when the victim was in a dog pile. During that incident, the victim said a teammate again grabbed his genitals, Vigil wrote.
The victim again reported the incident to Quintana, and was assured his concerns would be addressed, but according to Vigil’s report, they never were.
During the course of the investigation, Vigil contacted multiple witnesses, which confirmed parts of the victim’s story.
One witness said she was nearby when another person told her they had just “de-pantsed” her boyfriend.
Another witness said the alleged perpetrator would often “show himself off” and make comments about his genitals in the presence of other football players.
A third witness said he saw the perpetrator reach into the dog pile during practice, but did not see if he grabbed the victim’s genitals.
Coaches split
Vigil wrote that he contacted Coach Miguel Medina about the incident and Medina provided a written statement. In his statement, Medina said he was first informed of the incidents sometime in late August or early September 2018, prior to the final September 2018 incident.
Medina told Vigil the victim came to him and reported he no longer wanted to be a part of the team because he was not getting along well with other players. Medina also said he was aware that the victim had alleged another player grabbed his private parts, but did not hear about the complaint until October 2018, over a month after the incident allegedly occurred.
When Vigil talked to Athletic Director Ruben Salazar about the incident, Salazar said he completed an investigation into the incident during the fall, but sthe victim’s parents said they did not want him to look into the allegation. He promised to provide a written statement, but failed to do so for over two weeks.
“I sent (Ruben Salazar) an email which advised (him) that I needed his statement no later than February 11, 2019,” Vigil wrote. “I advised Mr. Salazar if I did not receive his statement I would be forced to document that he was refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.”
Vigil received a written statement from Salazar on February 26, 2019.
“According to Mr. Salazar’s statement his investigation concluded that during practice, (the victim) was tackled and touching (sic) in the private part by accident,” Vigil wrote. “According to Mr. Salazar’s statement, the football team was given a sexual harassment class.”
Vigil asked Salazar for copies of his notes from the investigation, and also for details concerning the sexual harassment class, but Salazar told them those documents had been provided to Archuleta, who left district employment in December 2018.
Vigil followed-up with Medina and asked him about the sexual harassment class. Medina said the team did not attend such a class, but did say the team learned about hazing.
Vigil contacted the National Federation of High Schools to inquire about their sexual harassment course, but found that they did not offer any course on the topic.
Again, Vigil asked Salazar to provide documents about the training he said the team attended, including investigative notes, a certificate or information about the sexual harassment class and a sign-in sheet or other information about the class, but the questions allegedly angered Salazar.
“Mr. Salazar came into my office and threw a pink stick paper on my laptop computer,” Vigil wrote. “As he threw the paper he yelled, ‘It was through NFHS for bullying, hazing and inappropriate behavior…I don’t know why I got to prove myself to you anyway.”
Vigil asked Salazar to correct his statement, but it is not clear if he did.
A few days later, Medina reported that he had been approached by Salazar concerning the class. Vigil wrote Salazar asked Medina if he remembered the training that had been conducted after the alleged incident.
“Coach Medina advised me that he informed Mr. Salazar that they did not have a training after the (incident),” Vigil wrote. “Medina stated that Mr. Salazar pressed him advising him ‘You remember.’ Coach Medina stated that they did not do any training.”
Vigil forwarded the report to Juvenile Probation for review and to consider filing criminal charges in the matter.
District taking action
Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez wrote in an email Monday that the District is taking action to address sexual assault and harassment, but declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations citing the possibility of future litigation.
Gutierrez wrote that the District recently updated the hazing policy, added an offensive conduct policy and also adopted a boundaries policy as a result of the Gary Gregor case. Gregor was convicted in December 2018 of sexually assaulting elementary school students.
She wrote High School staff underwent sexual harassment training during the past week, and the school is also planning to do training with students.
When asked what students and parents should do in a similar sitiation, Gutierrez said reporting the incident is the first and most important step.
“Report any type of inappropriate behavior witnessed by an adult or student,” Gutierrez wrote. “In fact, there is a reporting form with the boundaries policy for such purposes.”
She wrote the counselors and social workers at the school are trained to assist students with any type of trauma they may experience.
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